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Art BFA Degree

Enhance Your Creativity as a Practicing Artist

Complete the University of Texas at Tyler’s bachelor of fine arts degree in art and you'll be well prepared for a career as a professional artist.

  • Take a concentrated curriculum focused on your interests in studio art or art history.
  • Study in UT Tyler’s 30,000-square-foot art facilities including modern, spacious studio space, open 24 hours to students.
  • Get the one-on-one faculty attention you’d expect to find only at a small private university or professional art school.
  • Be part of exciting events right on campus, such as the UT Tyler Sculpture Conference, bringing together visiting sculptors with students, local architects and designers.

UT Tyler BFA graduates are employed by such distinguished institutions as:

Tyler Junior College, instructor
Brookshire Grocery Co., display coordinator
Corpus Christi Art Center, executive director
Chapel Hill High School, art instructor
Tarrant County Community College, art instructor

Bachelor of Fine Arts: Shaping Talent. Building Skills.

  • Concentrate your study in two-dimensional art (painting, collage or drawing), three-dimensional art (sculpture, ceramics or small metals), multimedia art, art history or general studio art.
  • Exhibit your artwork on campus in the Meadows Gallery as part of your senior capstone experience.
  • Gain valuable experience in the art world through internships at local museums or galleries.
  • Network with other art students and artists as a member of the Studio Art & Art History Association (SAAHA).

More Information

Art Courses: Creative Expression. Proven Techniques.

  • Ceramics

    Explore various materials, tools and approaches used by contemporary ceramicists.

  • Painting

    Get an introduction to painting in various media, content and forms.

  • Intermediate Life Drawing

    Advance your skills in graphic expression with emphasis on figure representation.

  • Professional Art Practices

    Study theoretical and practical applications used by the professional artist, including web-based portfolio presentation, and digital photography and video documentation.

    Learn more about UT Tyler's BFA program of study.
UT Tyler art student working on project with hands

BFA Faculty: Practicing Artists. Respected Scholars.

--Expect personal attention and mentoring in classes with a favorable student-to-faculty ratio.

--Study side-by-side with professors who are practicing artists and recognized authorities in their field.

--Learn from Department of Art and Art History faculty who are published authors and respected art history experts.

--Join your professors to participate in professional conferences.

Learn more about UT Tyler’s art faculty.

Student Profile

Neil Lawley

Globetrotting Artist and Educator

“Dr. Hatcher, chairman of UT Tyler’s art program has had a hand in just about every big event in my career. He’s been a lifelong mentor to me. It was Dr. Hatcher who recommended me for the Javitts Fellowship, a $30,000 award that supported me and my wife Sarah Hoitsma while I was in graduate school at Southern Methodist University. Then, he again recommended us for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, JET.

"Through this program, we were able to spend four years living and teaching among the people of Otsu, Japan. It was the experience of a lifetime. When we came home we were initially overwhelmed by the violence on TV, the size of homes and the amount of glass and plastic trash our society generates. Today, we have no television in our home.

“Since returning from Japan, I have changed artistic mediums. Previously I worked in ceramics and now I am specializing in re-purposing resources from dumpsters, diverting materials from the waste stream and giving scrap lumber a new life.

“Today, I’m teaching sculpture and three-dimensional design at Missouri Western State University. You guessed it: Dr. Hatcher again recommended me for the position.”

Neil Lawley, Malakoff, TX
May 1998 BFA and Bachelor of General Studies Graduate

For more information, check out the UT Tyler Department of Art and Art History